Mastodon, the decentralized alternative to X, is going to adopt a controversial feature from the platform formerly known as Twitter: quote posts. The company on Friday shared the progress it’s making on the implementation of the feature, which has divided users over its potential to be used for online abuse and bullying.
Critics have long argued that the addition of quote tweets helped ruin Twitter, turning the network into a more toxic online community.
Some Mastodon users feel strongly that quote posts don’t belong on Mastodon, as the feature is often used to “dunk” on another person’s post, which not only breeds negativity but can also result in helping spur a flood of abusive replies to the original post’s author — especially if the dunker is a…